Apple TV Said to Start Carrying HBO App Later This Year

The Apple Inc. "Apple TV" set is displayed for sale at an Apple store. Photographer: Scott Eells/Bloomberg

Feb. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. is in negotiations to
start carrying Time Warner Inc.’s HBO Go application on Apple TV
by mid-2013, according to two people familiar with the plans.

Cable and satellite subscribers who pay for HBO will be
able to watch 1,700 films and television shows on Apple TV, said
the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are
private. Apple TV is a $99 set-top device that streams content
purchased on iTunes and via other online services to consumers’
televisions.

Adding HBO to the lineup of Apple TV services including
Netflix Inc. and Hulu Plus may help the iPhone maker bolster
sales of a set-top box that has faced stiff competition from
similar video-delivery devices from Roku Inc. and Microsoft
Corp.. Apple TV would let Time Warner, which already offers HBO
Go for Roku and Microsoft’s Xbox, deliver another option to
consumers who are increasingly shunning broadcasts in favor of
on-demand viewing and streaming video over the Internet.

HBO Go is only available to customers who subscribe to the
network through their cable or satellite service, and would be
the first app on Apple TV that requires pay-TV authentication.
There are currently HBO Go apps for the iPad and iPhone.

Apple sold more than 2 million set-top boxes in the fiscal
first quarter, which ended in December. Over the two prior
fiscal years Apple sold more than 7.8 million.

The device has prompted speculation that Apple will
introduce a full-scale television.

“This is an area of intense interest for us,” Apple’s
Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook said in response to a question
about a television during the company’s first-quarter earnings
call on Jan. 23. “I tend to believe that there’s a lot we can
contribute in this space. And so we continue to pull the string
and see where it leads us.”